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I am fine. Just in case you might have wondered, the MS is still there, and the injections are going fine. I still have numbness and tingling in my feet and sometimes my hands…but really in the scheme of things, if it remains this way for a while to come, I would be grateful!

I have managed to get a few projects done, but haven’t taken photos of all of them…the latest news is that my Dear Jane won another Viewer’s Choice!! This time at our local Limerick Quilt Show! I won a hundred euro voucher to the quilt shop I work a few hours at weekly!

Here are the girls and I in front of the quilt…

Here is my friend Riikka’s great applique quilt for her son. She just started quilting. Last October. She started this quilt in March, had the applique and top and hand quilting done by May…wow. Hope you keep in touch when you move back to Finland, Riikka! She has started a Dear Jane, I expect she will be done next week sometime, lol!! Okay, maybe next month…

We had a nice display of quilts in the Limerick City Hall…

My friend Nicola and I made more of these scrubbies for a friend’s school fete. I added the soaps to help them sell better, lol!!

I should have blogged much earlier, but the days are so busy with kids activities (Aisling turned 5 last week, where did the time go!) and I just let it get away from me. Here is a photo from today’s activities, the kids made a mummy, vampire and various other scary creatures with my fabrics…love that they love playing with the Tilda kitties I made them!

I have been working on some fingerless gloves and on my felted bag on the knitting front, can show one finished glove next time. The bag still looks like a big green blob of knitting, so not really exciting. I have finished the wedding quilt for Dave’s brother and his partner…well the top anyway…but never took a photo. When I start the quilting on it will try to take a photo and maybe update the blog a little sooner? Maybe??

And soon we’ll see France! We are having a nice time so far in Katy’s house. I even managed to get a quilt started and completed for her daughter Olivia’s Birthday! Thanks for letting me raid your scrap basket Katy!! Olivia loves dolphins, so…

I also finished another of the ballerina slippers that I will felt. I finished Aislings and they look very sweet, but she has been wearing them and I couldn’t find them to photograph before we left. Here is their size beefore they are felted, it always amuses me!!

I also wanted to show the Halloween stitchery and cute pumpkin we had in the house before we left on holidays…guess I will finally be starting some seasonal decorating!!

We are heading into Central London for some sightseeing with the kids tomorrow and then our adventure starts in Paris. I have learned that the Paris quilting shop Le Rouvray is not far from Notre Dame so I think a small stop might be arranged during our afternoon in Paris. Then it is off to Disney for a few days before coming back to have Halloween in London with Katy and family!! You might see me blog again if I get inspired by Katy’s good habits, but more than likely I’ll be updating after our visit to France.

What was that about trying to do weekly or more posts? I have fallen far short of that goal. It has been a busy month, lots to do but not a lot of crafting to show for it. We have also had our fair share of colds and flus coming through and holding on to reinfect us…the joys of seasonal changes.

One thing DH got done for me was getting my Dear Jane up on the wall!!

I’m making progress on the pink Marilinda sock, I’ve done the heel and am working on the foot now, then to start the second sock…ugh…I do like that 2 socks at once thing…I like finishing a pair together. It is a complicated pattern, but I am enjoying it, keeps me on my toes. I think that I will do some more scrubbies and facecloths for Christmas gifts, but my next project to start will be a felted bag, it will be weird using big needles again!! I also need to make some socks for Aisling and ballerina slippers for Aine…add to this list all my quilting and stitchery stuff and I need 48 hours in a day!!

Last weekend I decided to make a few birthday presents. I had some insulbrite for ages and so made 6 potholders. Two to replace the sad ones I have (why it took me years to do this I don’t know). I did some green ones for my mom’s kitchen, some purple and turquoise ones to match a tea cozy I knitted for Dave’s mom, and some red ones for me, and just free pieced them with scraps and some pieces that I had in my scrap stash already pieced by other quilters and passed on to me with fabric scraps I got!! I used them as practice for my free motion quilting…I think they are actually a bit too big, so I may have to whip up a few smaller ones next week…

I also did a little DIY decorating for the girls room a few weeks back…some dust ruffles for their bed to hide the ugly storage containers I have under there… I used pink scraps, and then put the gorgeous quilts Barbara made them on top. I like it much better than the Dora and Tinkerbell covers!!
I also got a Betz White covered tape measure kit on Wednesday and whipped this up in record speed…aint it cute!!
I also have to say a big THANK YOU to Paula who sent me some great Civil War repro fabrics from Australia, I owe you big and will gather some embroidery goodies to send back in return!!
I am very excited about a road trip to IKEA up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I am going up with the girls for DH’s mom’s birthday tomorrow and DH will be home from his weeklong trip to Barcelona for work (poor guy had to have a sea view at his hotel and visit a winery too!). Sunday he is taking the kids for the day and I am doing a road trip!! I will take my sister in law with me and get some bookshelves, and then just browse and get tons of little bits and pieces too I am sure. We should eventually get an Ikea in Dublin, hopefully next year…

I really hope I don’t take 3 weeks again for my next post. I am going to make an effort to finish the 21 blocks I need for my ocean waves quilt, so maybe next week I’ll have that to show!

I’ll leave you with a quilt I made in action at a teddy picnic… More soon, sooner rather than later, I hope!!

How does time fly by so quickly? I have only a few weeks here till I leave for Oregon. My two good American friends are moving back to the States permanently the week before I leave, so we are cramming in many kids and mom’s goodbye events (dominos night here on Wednesday: kids off school on Thursday for Lisbon Treaty referendum vote in Ireland, school is the polling station), school trips, sports days, Aisling is having her 4th birthday party Saturday, Dave leaves for Australia for 10 days on Sunday!! I am amazed I am getting any crafting done, but it is my stress reliever. I actually decided to stay home and quilt last night instead of running to catch up with some friends already on their way to see Sex and the City at the movies!! Dave had attended the Irish drinks party/reception for his brother’s wedding, no kids allowed and I wasn’t feeling good Friday, so opted to stay home with kids rather than worry about babysitters up in Dublin for a few hours of partying while I was still feeling fluish… He came home and my friends were already on their way to the movie, I just couldn’t gather enough momentum to rush off to join them…wimp, I know!!

Luckily I am feeling better today, just in time to print out Barbie invitations, run out to toy shops for party bags and goodies, cards and presents, etc etc etc…if I can find the time!!

I have made some good progress on the three baby quilts that have been waiting on a free motion foot. I just winged a flowery vine motif on the muslin sections of the quilt. What do you think? I have two more pretty similar now to complete.

I have finished the hanging sleeves on the Dear Jane now, so just the label to finalize and print out…that will be quick, so the big stress for the Dear Jane is gone now!!! It will be ready for the Sisters Show.

Not much knitting going on, just working on more ballerina slippers this time for Aine, not very exciting to show, as look like Aisling’s only slightly bigger.

I need to finish up my ALQS quilt, which is no longer going to be hand quilted, no time to do it! And my DJ wallhanging giveaway quilt, which is nearly done hand quilting… that should keep me plenty busy till we leave!

Mom is not doing well at the moment, the “easier” chemo treatments that we suppose to have less side effects, have a very bad effect on her, very bad nerve pain. She has also become anemic, so any thoughts or prayers to keep her going and to get her through this chemo would be great. Hopefully the docs will have some better pain meds ready for her next treatment tomorrow. If you want to and you have a chance, say hello to her at her blog, Cancer Warrior. To everyone who has sent her a card and gave her your support, thank you so much, it means a lot to her and to me.

Let me leave you with a lovely view from the home of Hollie, of the quilt. If you take the road we live on and follow it up the “mountain/hill” we live on the bottom of, you see lovely views like this!